Wait Well Worth It
by zenniel
Summary: One-shot. "We've had a lot of good times, haven't we, old girl?" He asks her as he locks her doors one last time. "But I've got to go fight in this Time War, and I won't have you getting hurt. They can't see that they're injuring time and space, and I've got to set it right. Even if it means sacrificing myself in the process."


Hey, guys! Here's yet another Dr. Who fanfic! Hope you like it!

* * *

"We've had a lot of good times, haven't we, old girl?" He asks her as he locks her doors one last time. "But I've got to go fight in this Time War, and I won't have you getting hurt. They can't see that they're injuring time and space, and I've got to set it right. Even if it means sacrificing myself in the process."

She does not know whether to agree or disagree, but she is powerless to follow him as he turns his back on her and walks away. She's stuffed into an old alleyway somewhere in England, wedged between a dumpster and a hard place—she assumes it's a wall. She can feel the wood on that side shave off as the dumpster, one of the foulest things she has ever come across, is continuously moved when the trash trucks come to collect its contents every once in a while. She feels very insecure but she can no more do anything about her predicament as she can bring him back.

A gaggle of kids, teenagers in human terms (and she's learned a lot about human terms since he loves his humans), comes around every so often and smokes back in her alleyway. She's taken a liking to the alleyway, which offers her a steady stream of things to look at when she's not busy trying to keep her main functions online, ready for when he comes back. The teens find it funny that an old police box is just sitting here in an alleyway; one day they come with spray paint and draw pretty pictures on the walls of the alley. One kid tries to draw on her, but the leader of the group harshly reprimands him, saying that something that old should never be drawn on.

The alleyway is covered in graffiti, and she likes it. One of the largest pieces features the bust of a wolf with the words 'Bad Wolf' graffiti'd under it; that piece takes up over half of the alleyway, and she likes just looking at it, wondering what it means. She doesn't have much else to do nowadays, anyway, so just looking makes her happy.

It's been a long time since she last saw him, and even the teens have grown up and moved on. She would say a couple human years, perhaps more, but she has never been the type to understand time. She likes how he described time once upon a time, but for some reason the words don't come to her as easily as he said them.

She misses him, she realizes one day, long after most of the graffiti has faded from the walls. She doesn't know how long it takes for graffiti to fade, but soon all that's left is the Bad Wolf and the wolf's mouth, teeth, and eyes. And her side hurts from where it's scraped against the wall. And she's alone except for the random cat or rat or mouse that scurries through the alley.

She's almost given up hope about ever seeing anyone who cares about her anymore when she hears something so unique that it would be something only he says. The man has a different voice and he's trailed by someone different than anyone she's seen him with before and her interest is piqued, but she knows that he's him. Then he's walking past her alley, not noticing her in the least, and she does the one thing she knows will get his attention, she makes noise.

It isn't him that recognizes the sound, though they've spent many years together, but the blond woman who's walking next to him, her hand entwined with his, stops short. She glances backward and her eye catches on the opposite wall.

"Doctor." She says, and because of the distance and the limits on her systems, her voice sounds tiny. "Doctor, look."

The man turns and looks at the wall, then he whips out some glasses and squints, and she gets a strange feeling that rumbles down her inside. He walks closer and investigates the wall some more. She can't figure out why he's so fascinated in the wall.

"It's Bad Wolf, Doctor." The woman states the obvious, but she still doesn't understand the meaning. "Perhaps we shouldn't be here."

And why won't he turn around?

"Yes, sure, but why is it _here_?" He questions and touches the graffiti and then licks his fingers. It's still the same him.

The blond notices first. "Doctor, look, it's the TARDIS."

"That's impossible, we're in the parallel world; there is no TARDIS because there is no me." He doesn't turn around; he is still interested in the graffiti.

"Doctor, it's the TARDIS, right here, on Earth, right now." The blond pushes as she twists him around so that he can look at her.

She buzzes with energy as his eyes focus on her. "No." He says, though, and she would have shrunk back if she could have. "No, no, no, no. What?"

He begins to study her, to push on her walls, to try to figure something out, as if he isn't sure that it is her. And that's when she realizes that this man is her thief but he _isn't_ her thief. She quickly decides that she doesn't care. This is still her thief.

She opened her doors to let him in.

His face slowly split into a smile. "It _is _you, old girl!"

He sprints inside her and she shivers so much that he can feel it. He's different, but he's still hers, and he smiles at her and touches her control console. The woman steps inside, too, and she allows it because he obviously adores her.

"Rose, she's the TARDIS! She's my TARDIS!" He crows. "She's in this universe, too! I wonder why she's in this universe."

She can't tell him that he isn't here anymore. But she doesn't even know if her own _him_ is dead or not. It doesn't matter; the old 'he' hasn't been around for a very long time and now this new 'he' is here, and she's happy again. She hums as she lights up her insides, intent on him searching her more and relearning her secrets.

"I've missed you, old girl." He strokes his hands across the console, familiarizing himself with the controls. It's like he's getting used to her for the first time, but that doesn't faze her.

The blond shuts her doors and wanders around her control room. "She's the same as before, but where's her Doctor?"

Her thief stops and considers. "She's been here for a while—did you see the grime on her outsides and the dust in here?"

The blond shivers. "So he might be gone."

"Yeah," and he shrugs, "but we've found her, Rose, and she's more than willing to take us where we want. She's aching to go, and I don't blame her."

She quickly realizes that this Rose is one who this man is attached to before anyone else before. And she's okay with that. This man isn't her thief, this woman isn't Sarah Jane, and apparently she isn't his TARDIS, but that's okay. Everything is okay now.

"Let's go on an adventure, Rose Tyler." He says with a sly grin.

"Where to, Doctor?" Rose asks, and his grin deepens.

"I dunno. Where do _you_ want to go, TARDIS?" He asks, and she shivers because she knows _exactly_ where she wants to take them.

The alleyway is filled with the familiar sounds of her leaving, and all too sudden, she's gone. But that's okay, because she's waited a very long time for this moment. She's waited faithfully for him to come back, and now that he is back safe and sound, she's got a lot of places in mind to go.

Because now it'll always be Rose Tyler and the Doctor in the TARDIS… sailing through time. As it should be.


End file.
